Growth of Pinoy headcount in Nevada highest among US states

The US state of Nevada registered the highest percentage increase of Filipinos among the country’s 50 states. Data from the 2010 US Census showed Nevada state had 98,351 Filipinos or a 142 percent increase from year 2000 figures of 40,529. In 1990, Nevada only had 12,048 Filipinos and the increase ten years after was by 236 percent. Nevada, though, is the seventh largest state in terms of Filipino population, as the 2010 Census registered a total of 2,555,923 Filipinos. Not surprisingly, most Filipinos in the US come from California (1,195,580). The other states with the largest number of Filipinos are Hawaii (197,497), Illinois (114,724), New Jersey (110,650), New York (104,287), and Texas (103,074). Behind Nevada are Washington (91,367), Florida (90,223), and Virginia (66,963). The 2.555 million Filipinos make up 0.8 percent of the total American population of 308,745,538. The 2010 number of Filipinos represented a 38 percent increase from the 2000 Census count of 1,850,314. Per state, as a percentage to the total population, Hawaii-based Filipinos make up 14.5 percent of the total population. But lesser-known states also had higher percentage increases in the number of Filipinos given the 2000 versus 2010 Census counts. These are Alamaba (116 percent), North Carolina (94), Wyoming (91), and Idaho (87). Data from the 2010 Census about Filipinos were circulated to the media by the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA), with University of Maryland professor Gem Daus compiling the said data from the US Census website. The 2.555 million count represents “Filipinos only," and the 2010 Census will be remembered for having a category — and a box in the Census questionnaire — labeled “Filipino only," and not lumping together Filipinos as part of an Asian ethnic grouping. Though, Census 2010’s public use files covering all 50 states, have yet to be completed and publicly circulated. If completed, more details about Filipinos’ socio-demographic data can be further analyzed. Using data from the 2000 Census and the 2008 American Community Survey, Aaron Terrazas and Jeanne Batalova of the Washington D.C.-based Migration Policy Institute found that:

• Filipinos make up a large share of all immigrants in the West Coast;
• Over 25 percent of all Filipinos born outside of the US arrived in 2000 or later;
• Almost two thirds of Filipino immigrants in 2008 are working-age adults;
• There were more Filipino immigrant women than men in 2008;
• It is much more likely that Filipino immigants will be naturalized American citizens compared to other immigrant groups;
• Less than third of Filipino immigrants in 2008 are less-skilled in English, even as a minority of Filipinos with limited levels of English proficiency do not speak Tagalog;
• Over 75 percent of Filipino adults born outside of the US had some college education;
• Compared to other immigrant groups, Filipinos were far less likely to live in poverty according to US standards; and
• Filipino immigrants were more likely own their own homes, and have a mortgage.